Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, has offered up to $17 million to buy the bankrupt Rosecroft harness-racing track in Prince George’s County, where he wants slot machines operating by the end of 2012. If a bankruptcy judge approves his bid for the raceway that sits on 124 acres in Fort Washington, Angelos would pay $9 million in cash at closing, according to court documents filed this week. “It’s a win, win, win, win, win,” said Kelley Rogers, the president of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., the parent company of Rosecroft that filed for bankruptcy in 2009. “He’s the kind of owner you want to have all the way around.” A call to Angelos’ law office on Wednesday was not returned.
Angelos has offered to pay an additional $5 million for the track if slot machines are allowed at Rosecroft by Dec. 1, 2012, which would require a constitutional
amendment approved by voters. He also would pay $3 million more for Rosecroft if the Maryland General Assembly authorizes a $15 million bond from the state’s standardbred purse account for the project, the documents state.
Slot machines at Rosecroft are far from certain, but that isn’t stopping Angelos. “Slots or no slots, he’s committed to helping save an entire industry in the state of Maryland,” Rogers said.
Maryland voters in November 2008 approved gambling at five Maryland locations; since then, two have opened, including the Ocean Downs Race Track and Casino on Tuesday.
But Rogers strongly made the case that gambling — whether it’s slots or card tables — has to be at the track to be profitable. “Racing alone is not going to do it,” he said.
Angelos is “looking forward to working with the legislature and the governor’s office to develop some sort of support package,” Rogers said.
It’s not clear how Angelos, the majority owner of the Orioles whose family took steps to buy the raceway in 2005, would skirt a Major League Baseball rule prohibiting him from owning a racetrack that allows gambling. “One of his considerations as he looked at buying the track was making sure he stayed in complete lines with the rules of Major League Baseball,” Rogers said.
Angelos offered “the highest and best offer” of five bidders competing for ownership, according to the court documents. He hopes to have live harness racing back at Rosecroft this fall.
“He’s a local guy who understands racing, he’s a well-established horseman, an excellent lawyer and a phenomenal businessperson,” said John Franzone, a member of the Maryland Racing Commission. “That’s like the Triple Crown for us.”
